Thinking positive...

It's nice to know that after not running hardly at all since Christmas, I was able to pull out a 28:37 in a flat 5k yesterday in the pouring rain. This is officially my slowest 5k ever on the books in a race, I think... The Memorial Day 5k last year was just a tinsy faster, I think...but with a few small hills & much more pain involved. ugh!

So, backing up a bit. Thursday, I did the am spin class & aqua jogged 30 mins after work before heading to Nashville. Friday morning, I got my MRI & bone density test done. B.D. is normal. MRI, apparently showed enough healing going on that Dr. J. gave me a chart of walk/jog stuff to start on next week & an order for physical therapy. The pain that I feel in the shin, according to him, is scar tissue. He wants me to pay a physical therapist to massage that painful scar tissue & for them to show me how to strengthen my calves. Well, I can tell ya right now, I'm tired of spending money on this shin. I'll go a time or two & see what they can do & then I'll do it myself. Sorry, but this handing out money every where to the medical community is getting old.

There's also a sheath that's formed over the "old crack" as he put it. He didn't say a word about the supposed 2nd fracture on the back of my right calf & I forgot to ask. (He wants to see me back in 4 weeks.) If it were an issue, I guess he would have said something. I saw him for all of 20 mins. His office was slammed much like Premier Radiology's office. I was so glad I had early appts. What I find interesting is that the first two weeks on this chart are things I've been doing all along. He said to start slow & go along as I feel. So for now, I'm definitely going to put more walking/jogging back in my weekly activities.

I kept my mouth shut about the Tom King 5k & the CMM 1/2 marathon. :P Yep, I know I said I'd be walking it with Pam but Pam likes to do her own thing & I was antsy just to see what I could do with almost no running since I was in San Antonio for Christmas or the little jaunt through Tullahoma with the running club group in Jan. I was just curious & I ended up making myself pretty mad. If I had been about 5-6 secs faster coming in I would have grabbed 3rd place age group. What they get for the 5k, who knows but I was 4th in the 40-44 age groupers, which makes me mad & is funny at the same time. How many times over the last year have I come away with something on a slow time due to the "unknown" stress fracture?! Oh well, just goes to show you, if you really aren't going to give it everything you've got, stay home. :P Yes, I took it easy, I promise. My first mile, which was flat was a 9:20 then I picked it up just a little. I slowed coming in on the concrete ramp because the alarms in my shin were going off. The shin HATES concrete! That's where I lost the time.

Hey, I think we all need to pat ourselves on the back for coming out in the nasty weather once again to run Tom King, whether you did the 1/2 or the 5k, kudos to you if you were there. Pam got a calf cramp at mile 2 & slowed way down. Once she was done, we were out of there before the 1/2'ers took off. We were cold & soaked to the bone so the heat from my car was more inviting than going upstairs or hanging out. Joe did well for his first "official" race in years. He was just over 25 minutes, which is great considering he's had knee issues, shoulder issues, & he just started running again in December after a couple of decades of no running. You go Joe!

So, here's to a slow healing shin that may be more healed than I thought. (I still think it's a little nuts that this doc just gave me an air cast two weeks ago but oh well...) For now, I think I'm just going to ease as much as I can back into this & hope for the best. I feel ok today other than some soreness from some places that haven't been sore in a very long time. (I've missed that soreness & will savor every bit of it.)

Joe's parents came up from the Keys. They've been on vacation. Very nice folks! :) I was having flashbacks of past Seinfeld episodes when they talked about their trip. (They don't yell at each other like the Seinfelds or Costanzas but it was vaguely similar.) We had some awesome mexican Sat night with them. I'm officially puffed up from too much salt right now. :P

Tomorrow, I'm very tempted to aqua jog in the pool before work but haven't committed myself to it yet. I'm also going to do my normal ab & spin after work.

Tuesday, I'll hit up the am spin class & weather permitting jump on the bike at UTSI & do those rolling hills again.